Book Review: Save the Cat! Strikes Back

Summary

The cat comes back for a sequel with more tips and tricks for screenwriters, expanding on the original Blake Snyder Beat Sheet to help you write your screenplay.

The Good

Lots of good stuff in here. If you liked the original Save the Cat!, you’ll find much to appreciate here.

We get several new tools, like the five-point Finale beat and the excellent chapter on straightening your story’s spine. The chapter on rewriting is also good, giving tips on what to do when the critique you get tells you that your darling scene needs to go. And how to interpret vague critique notes, too.

The Bad

As with the original, Save the Cat! Strikes Back has a smattering of bad language. The author also pretty much assumes you’ve seen all the movies he references.

The eighth chapter is very much a self-help chapter and didn’t do much for me.

Overall

Save the Cat! Strikes Back is very helpful to those who have already read Save the Cat! and are having screenwriting trouble. This might be the cure. I’ve been having trouble with my latest screenplay and now, with this book, Blake Snyder has me raring to go again.